NAVY M.D.’S WIFE GUILTY OF STABBING HIM TO DEATH

San Diego 
A woman accused of stabbing her Navy doctor husband to death after collecting emails and other evidence of his extramarital affair was convicted Wednesday of second-degree murder.

Jennifer Trayers, 43, was charged with killing Lt. Cmdr. Frederick Trayers III in December 2010 in their North Park condominium. The victim, 41, was stabbed twice in the chest and eight times in the back.

The second-degree murder conviction means the jury found that the killing was intentional but not premeditated. She was acquitted of first-degree murder.

San Diego Superior Court Judge Joan Weber set a hearing for March 9, when Jennifer Trayers faces a sentence of 16 years to life in prison.

Trayers showed little reaction in court immediately after the verdict was read.

Later, her attorney said he believed she was “shellshocked,” despite knowing that she would likely go to prison. The lawyer said her body shook as she sat next to him at the defense table.

Deputy District Attorney Fiona Khalil had argued that Trayers knew about her husband’s affair for months but waited for the right opportunity to end his life. She killed him as he lay in bed, groggy from taking a sleeping medication, the prosecutor said.

Defense attorney Kerry Armstrong argued that Trayers had suffered through a 90-day “emotional roller coaster” that ended when she lost control in the couple’s bedroom. Armstrong argued that the stabbing occurred in the heat of passion, which made his client guilty of voluntary manslaughter, not murder.

The jury deliberated about three days before reaching a verdict. Jurors did not speak to reporters afterward.

Khalil said she respected the jury’s decision.

Armstrong acknowledged his disappointment, but said he was pleased his client would not face 25 years to life for premeditated murder. A voluntary manslaughter conviction, plus the knife-use allegation, would have carried a sentence of up to 12 years.

“She feels absolutely horrible about what happened to her husband,” Armstrong said. “She still loves him.”

Trayers, who had an affair in Florida years earlier, testified that she was anxious and angry on Dec. 4, 2010, when her husband came home from work. That morning, she sent an eight-page email to his mistress, which read in part: “My husband is NOT going to be yours.”

Trayers said she tried talking to her husband, but he wanted to sleep. To get his attention, she picked up a butcher knife and asked him how to kill herself by slitting her wrists.

To her surprise, she testified, he offered her a sharper, military-style knife that he kept in a drawer by the bed. She used it to cut into her own chest, drawing blood.

Trayers said a struggle ensued and she stabbed her husband in the back of his neck. She said she blacked out and could not remember stabbing him again.